MKTO’s Tony Oller and Malcolm Kelley Talk New Single ‘Thank You’ — and What It’s Like to be the Underdogs (VIDEO)

MKTO’s Tony Oller and Malcolm Kelley Talk New Single ‘Thank You’ — and What It’s Like to be the Underdogs (VIDEO)

By Celebrity News Wire on January 3, 2013

You may not have heard of MKTO yet, but get ready: 2013 may just be the year “Misfit Kids and Total Outcasts” rule the airwaves.

The group, comprised of real-life best friends Tony Oller, 21, and Malcolm Kelley, 20, is debuting a video for its single “Thank You” Friday on VEVO. And it’s a true pop anthem. “Don’t tell us how to live our lives,” the duo sings. “This world is too damn jaded. We’ll be fine. Thank you for nothing because there’s nothing left to lose.”

“We wanted to have a song that described our views of our generation,” Oller told Celebuzz. ”And to describe how we feel about being in the circumstances we are in, thanks to previous generations making mistakes.”

“[It's about] the world we are living in. By that, I mean, the situations us young folks are in due to some of our elders’ decisions,” Kelley added. “We have the power to take things into our own hands nowadays. Following your dreams, working at it, and education are key.”

But MKTO’s “Thank You” is more than just another song about teenage angst — it’s an anthem for underdogs, something both Oller and Kelley experienced in their careers.

“I always felt like the underdog,” said Oller. “Especially in school, but being the underdog is a good thing because you [have] more to prove.”

Oller and Kelley met while starring on the TeenNick series Gigantic. The two starting making music together and posting videos to YouTube before teaming up with songwriters Evan Bogart and Eman (Emanuel Kiriakou) to collaborate on a pop/R&B direction.

“Malcolm and I have always been brothers,” Oller said. “One minute, we want to kill each other, and another we love each other. We keep each other motivated and working. At the end of the day, it’s something we want and are going to push each other till we get we’re we want to be.”

“When we first met, we were working together on a show playing best friends. Then we became best friends,” added Kelley. “Now we’re making music together. We both have the same passion which is to make great music.”

With their musical influences ranging from Gavin DeGraw to Kendrick Lamar, MKTO’s full-length album is sure to be a genre-bending pop record. “We wanted to do something nobody is doing,” said Oller. “A mixture of upbeat and slow tunes — but everything has that MKTO twist.”

Catch a sneak peek of MKTO’s “Thank You” music video below, and check out their VEVO channel here. What do you think of the song? Sound off in the comments!

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